April 4th and 5th 2025

by Nigel Jones

I’d been meaning to attend this festival for a couple of years now, but sadly it was cancelled last year. It returned to Portsmouth Guildhall on the 4th and 5th of April, much to alternative/metal fans' delight.

The first band I caught were The Raven Age, taking to the Laney stage (the main hall in the Guildhall).

The singer, dressed in a long black coat reminiscent of Gerard Way, was an imposing figure on the stage. The band was technically great, with tight musicianship and excellent use of double kick drum. I feel that will be a regular occurrence as we start the weekend on a high! The Raven Age can certainly write a melodic hook, and each song has a unique feel to it. They grew into their set with a cool professionalism. Fun fact: guitarist George Harris is the son of none other than Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris.

I really enjoyed this set by The Raven Age, and I highly recommend checking them out.

Next up was Ferocious Dog, whose set started off thrilling and exciting. A violin played over a raucous beat, closely followed by the rest of the band, and the crowd absolutely loved it!

Their energetic Celtic folk/punk is raw, authentic, and passionate. Songs of hope, the working class, and life experiences are rather moving. Frontman Ken Bonsall belts out the lyrics from the heart. Ferocious Dog has an undeniable and infectious energy throughout their set, ending as always with the very moving “Slow Motion Suicide,” which builds to a joyous instrumental outro of violin and uplifting folk punk. A glorious set and a socially important band.

Ex-MMA fighter turned rock star Kris Barras fronts the Kris Barras Band, tonight’s main stage headliners.

Opening with a bass-heavy song featuring thunderous use of kick, the Kris Barras Band showcases their style of rock, with solid heavy riffs throughout and big singalong choruses. They do what they do very well, and many people will enjoy this thoroughly. However, as the set progresses, although I’m tapping my foot, I can’t help but feel it’s all a bit samey and predictable.

I returned to the site on Saturday with a buzz and a spring in my step, and my first stop was to check out the set of Seething Akira.

Intense energy from the get-go as they start their set. The crowds already seem bigger than yesterday, with excitement in the air.

Seething Akira is almost like a metal Beastie Boys, with great lyrical flow and a mix of rapping and singing. Huge riffs encourage massive pits to form, with people visibly having a great time in the band's presence. They impressively fill the stage with confidence and the main hall with their metal/electronic sounds, piercing the air intensely in the most penetrating way.

I really like their electronic element; their songs are unpredictable, with electronic breaks coming in unexpectedly. This keeps their set fresh and exciting. This band is one to watch for sure.

Pop-punk three-piece Slackrr takes to the We Are Trxsh stage at 18:30.

Great choruses from this trio from Southampton. Bassist Cait bounces around with a smile on her face as if she’s enjoying every second, and I’m pretty certain she is!

Slackrr go from song to song with youthful enthusiasm, as if they’re seasoned pros. Turns out they are, as singer Scotty proclaims they have played over 700 shows to date! Impressive stuff.

Their melodic and sunny pop-punk is fantastic, well-crafted, and raw. I will be catching Slackrr live again as soon as possible.

Dream State enters the stage to a heavy and dark electronic intro. Singer Jessie quickly brushes off the initial mic issues, warming to the occasion in a very cool manner. She displays her impressive vocal range with aplomb; this girl can sing and growl (in a controlled way) in equal and impressive measure. Jessie ends a song early in the set with a simple and sweet “thank you,” which made me chuckle in contrast to her growling in the previous song.

A synthy track or two suggests possible industrial influences, and I really like the dark synthy sounds incorporated into metal music. It adds impressive layers and depth to Dream State's songs, making them truly memorable.

Kid Bookie was late on due to obvious technical issues. Bookie can rap, sing, and growl in impressive measures. Some hardcore fans at the front are straight into it from the opening second the band starts. He gets a good reception from the small crowd; unfortunately, he clashes with main stage headliners Elvana.

I found his set quite intimidating (in a good way). I believe it shows his performances are aggressive and passionate. The sound and volume were intense, to say the least, filling the We Are Trxsh stage with piercing tones and heavy guitars. During a song break, KB encourages everyone to stick up their middle fingers as a f**k you to everyone who has wronged us and to not put up with anything like that in our lives. I can see how his performance could be influential, and him as an artist in general.

The South London artist is very unique, and his genre-mixing sound is original. Bookie has collaborated with members of Slipknot and Good Charlotte.

Last band of the event, Elvana are possibly one of the most entertaining “tribute” acts you will ever see! The simple yet genius idea of fusing the music of Elvis with Nirvana to create Elvana (Nirvana with Elvis as the frontman) maybe shouldn’t work on paper, yet it does! And so well.

Two “In Utero” Angels adorn the stage, and the band are having a great time, with plenty of funny anecdotes in between songs and encouragement to form circle pits. The singer disappears whilst one of the “cheerleader backing singers” bellows the Nirvana track Breed, he soon returns dressed in a classic Elvis style white suit with a cape, the skeleton onsie attire of 5 minutes ago long gone.

The bands set is a mixture of Elvis and Nirvana classics, and the beauty is you never know when a song by “The King” is going to merge/turn into a Nirvana song. The transitions are very clever and work so well, the audience love it!

Takedown has been a fantastic 2 days of music, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve discovered some great acts which I’ll pursue further. Independent festivals are crucial to the music industry and up and coming bands, and Takedown have to be commended for supporting local acts and for putting on this event, I look forward to this event next year.